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How to vocode: Using channel vocoders for cochlear-implant research

2024; Acoustical Society of America; Volume: 155; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1121/10.0025274

1520-9024

Margaret Cychosz, Matthew B. Winn, Matthew J. Goupell,

Speech and Audio Processing

The channel vocoder has become a useful tool to understand the impact of specific forms of auditory degradation—particularly the spectral and temporal degradation that reflect cochlear-implant processing. Vocoders have many parameters that allow researchers to answer questions about cochlear-implant processing in ways that overcome some logistical complications of controlling for factors in individual cochlear implant users. However, there is such a large variety in the implementation of vocoders that the term “vocoder” is not specific enough to describe the signal processing used in these experiments. Misunderstanding vocoder parameters can result in experimental confounds or unexpected stimulus distortions. This paper highlights the signal processing parameters that should be specified when describing vocoder construction. The paper also provides guidance on how to determine vocoder parameters within perception experiments, given the experimenter's goals and research questions, to avoid common signal processing mistakes. Throughout, we will assume that experimenters are interested in vocoders with the specific goal of better understanding cochlear implants.